Sunday, June 24, 2012

Spending the lion’s share of
my life in the music industry as afforded me the opportunity to see some
amazing concerts. As a rock journalist and radio DJ, I was given literally
hundreds of passes and free tix to shows.As a promoter, agent, and manager, I got to see scores more. And I also
purchased my fair share as a common punter wanting to see his fave new
act.

Great shows are not that hard
to recall:My first U2 experience in ’81 at the Park West
nightclub in Chicago; the visual spectacle of Pink Floyd at Vanderbilt Univ. Stadium in the summer of ’94; the
unexpected joy of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia
on the Oops, Wrong Planet tour in
’77; Kansas previewing material to
their classic Leftoverture in ’76 a
month before its release; Phil Keaggy
Band in a 3 hour tour-de-force in ‘82; Genesis
with stunning light/laser effects on the Wind
and Wuthering Tour in ‘77; Pearl Jam
exploding on stage at MTSU in ’93; Andre
Crouch turning conservative Wheaton College into a pulsating black gospel party
in ‘73; The Dixie Dregs in
incinerating 328 Performance Hall in ’95; The
Police tearing up the legendary Aragon Ballroom in Chi-town in ’80;Peter
Gabriel’s stage wizardry at Joe Louis Arena in ’87; Springsteen’s with his reunited E-Street Band in Nashville in ’98; Midnight Oil scorching the Paramount in
Denver in ’88; Monte Montgomery wowing
a packed-to-the-rafters 12th and Porter Showroom during the NAMM show
in 2000; and more to be savored.

As stupendous as all of those
were, none, however, none can match the depths of unequivocal incompetence of
the worst act I’ve ever seen. Before I get to them, let me take you down the
Hall of Shame before reaching the Lowly of Lowlies.Burned into my memory cells are The Godz in Rockford Armory in ‘78; Thunderpussy in Decatur in ‘73 (although they get kudos for one of
the funniest monikers ever); The
Chi-lites opening for blues master Roy Buchanan at the Arie Crown Theater
in Chicago (what was THAT promoter inhaling?!); Leon Patillo debuting his all girl back-up band in ’84 in Nashville
(you could actually see his career ending before your eyes); Natural Gas; Tutu and the Pirates;Beaverteeth; Nick Gilder (what a panzy); T.J.
Bear; Twister;Faustas
(arguably the worst heavy metal band of all time—I swear the singer had a rabid
weasel lodged in his rectum); Roxx; Barooga; Skafish; 999;Krokus; Saint (Christian heavy metal at its absolute worst); W.A.S.P; Berlin; Duke Jupiter; Legs Diamond; Lust; The Dictators (featuring
Handsome Dick Manitoba as the
“charismatic” frontman); Krumbacher;
and Autograph; Then there was Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band; Bad Boy; P Boys; Country Boys; and The Boyzz—you can pretty much guarantee that if a group has “boy”
somehow incorporated in their name, they will wreak (that even includes
Christian lounge singer Dave Boyer).

Of course, there have been
some real doozies playing on the Bud Litestage at Nashville Predators hockey games during between-period
intermissions. The Stones cover band Jaggered
Edge was particularly puke inducing, and I had to regularly choke back the
bile whenever TheGroove Addiction graced us with their clumsy
exertions.I wish I could also
forget the plethora of female fronted bands that feel it obligatory to play
“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” ("Oooh, I got a great idea for a hockey song!”). If I hear that one more time at a
Preds game I will take them up on the offer with a rocket launcher from good
ol’ Section 303.

But the band that scrapes
even lower, that swirls repeatedly within a black hole of incompetence, whose
musicianship is was so bereft of quality that even Satan and his minions would
be challenged to embrace them was Felix
Pappalardi’s Creation.It is
sad, really, that this is true, because I had the utmost respect for Felix as
the producer of all of Cream’s
amazing blues/rock albums in the late 60s, as well as being the
bassist/producer for Mountain.That band’s “Mississippi Queen”
still sounds as vital and raucous today as when it was released in the early 70s.

However, for reasons known
only to Felix, and perhaps to God, Mr. Papalardi assembled the most
questionable entourage I’ve ever laid eyes and ears on in the mid 70’s, and
dubbed it his “Creation.” I wouldn’t
be the least surprised if it was the inspiration behind Christopher Guest’s Spinal Tap. I don’t know the names of the other
members of his band, nor do I even care to Google them.Suffice it to say that any band that is
chosen based on the following requirements is going to produce dubious results:

1)Every member had
to be of Asian decent (nothing against that people group—I would make the same
assessment of a band chosen for other appearance reasons, like say an all organic
Eskimo lineup, or paraplegic Pygmy players, or autistic Albanian albinos).
Maybe Felix was ahead of his time, but, then again, I thought Japanese rock
groups like Loudness and XYZ sucked with abondanza in the 80s as
well.

2)There had to be
an equal number of women and men in the band.Now I’m not sexist, but let’s face it, there just haven’t
been many convincing female rock musicians.Some fantastic singers to be sure, but actual
players…uh…no.If you doubt me,
just think of the Runaways, Hole, Go Go’s, Rachel Rachel, The Donnas, Vixen, or The Bangles as
reference points. The three women Felix chose couldn’t have performed their way out of a wet paper bag.

3)There had to be
two of every instrument. Now, in the 70s the phenomenon of double guitars came
into vogue for harmonizing leads, and groups like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Thin
Lizzy truly pulled it off with aplomb.There were even southern rock groups that had two drummers (Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker,and The Outlaws come to mind).I’m not sure what was actually
accomplished with twice the rhythm—especially when they were often playing the
same patterns--but at least it was fun during their drum duets.But why
in the name of all that is holy, would a band need two BAD keyboardists, and even more puzzlingly, two bassists? I still chuckle every time
I think of it.

I had never heard Felix Pappalardi’s Creation before the
night they opened for the incomparable Gentle
Giant at the Riviera Theater in Chicago in July of ’77.After their “performance” I had no
intention of EVER wanting to hear them again. Hence, I am not at liberty to
neither recite song titles nor give a blow-by-blow account of the interplay
between the members.But only one
word comes to mind when I reflect on what I heard that night: cacophony.Webster’s defines it thus: “a
disagreeable or discordant sound, full of dissonance.”

The fact that they were
chosen to open the show for Gentle Giant
only enflamed the problem.You
see, G.G. was arguably the most musically
intense rock band ever assembled.Each of the five members could play at least four instruments well.It was not odd to see them switch with
each other DURING a song.Their compostitions
were complex, yet rollicking. They sang amazingly layered harmonies under intriguing lyrics. Their showmanship was Pythonesque. And it was all pulled off
impeccably.As a result, their fan
base was rabid, and opinionated to the nth degree.Opening acts were often mercilessly booed off stage.

But even the 2,000 strong Giantites packed into that old
vaudeville palace were stunned by the sheer ineptitude they were experiencing
with Pappalardi’s ensemble.As they ended their first song, there
was some scattered applause and a smattering of boos—but mostly jaw-dropping
amazement of how bad it sounded and looked. However, as the boorish onslaught continued,
word somehow made its way around the hall, so that with the end of each
heave-inducing number, the audience would simply sit in mocking silence.No boos, No catcalls.Not even the meagerest of “golf
claps.”I do recall after one
particularly frightful offering--as Felix paused during the introduction of the
next “tune”--someone with practiced skill in the art of fake flatulence let fly
with the largest mouth fart one could imagine.Even those of us in the balcony heard it.And it was met with gales of laughter. After
another selection someone bellowed “I’ll PAY you more if you’ll just stop!” You
could tell the band was becoming increasingly aware of the bitter acrimony
being exhibited.

It was so awkward, and the Giant fans were becoming bolder as they
reveled in their unified derision. The audience became much more the show than
what was on the proscenium. After forty minutes of enduring this torture, Felix
finally announced “This will be our last song,” to which one fan bellowed
“Thank bloody Christ for that!” Waves of derisive glee swept the hall. Upon
finishing their magnum opus, the crowd rose to its feet in mock adulation,
cheering their departure.

Maybe Felix was feeling a bit
uppity, or maybe he was even delusional, but he gathered his oriental sextet
stage left, and they boldly marched back out towards the throng for what they
must’ve felt was a well-earned encore. I’ve never seen anything like what
ensued: as one, the entire audience yelled “NO!” and was pointing back to
whence they came. Some were even throwing popcorn boxes, cups, wadded paper—I
think I even saw a hush puppy shoe fly towards those addled artisans.

Realizing the error in his
assessment, Felix and his buffoons immediately did an about face and marched
back to the bowels of the Riviera. I would not be surprised if the band broke
up right then and there. One thing’s for sure, they never appeared in Chicago
again.And no further albums were
forthcoming.

Was it cruel?Yes.Was it deserved? To some degree, yes.Was it hilarious?Absolutely. Bands need to be prepared
to take their lumps.Just four years
before, Gentle Giant, replete with
their violins, vibes, glockenspiels, saxophones, trumpets, flutes, wooden
recorders, olde English harmonies, and rock instrumentation, had their first
U.S. tour opening for….Black Sabbath.Talk about your baptism by fire!But they survived it, learned from it,
and became a better band in the long run.

Creation,
however, ended due to their trials...and never was “survival of the fittest”
more apropos. I just wish I could rinse that malodorous melodious-less stench
out of the recesses of my brain.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Ray Waddle of the Nashville Tennessean, gives voice to
N.T. Wright’s theological interpretation about the Kingdom of Heaven as it
should be…

An
indispensable buzzword of this partisan moment is silo: Left or right, secular
or religious, we sit in hardened rival silos of filtered information, snug,
smug and untouched by new data, better arguments, or the voices of neighbors
and other strangers.

The
figure of Jesus suffers from this odd contemporary lack of a meeting of minds.
Two siloed groups notably jostle for dominance. The skeptical wing says Jesus
was merely a good man, if he existed at all. A conservative wing regards him as
God’s Son who came from faraway heaven to take away our sins, then went back to
heaven beyond the skies and will return harshly to judge the world.

But
what if the point of Jesus was to tell people that God is in charge of the
world right now and urges everyone to get to work to make this newly
incorporated kingdom a success? What if Jesus came not to teach people how to
get into distant heaven but to enact God’s kingdom “on earth as it is in
heaven,” as he said in the Lord’s Prayer?

N.T.
Wright, a scholar-writer and a former Anglican bishop, is considered a leading
British interpreter of Christian faith, a successor to C.S. Lewis. For years
now, he has been thinking his way past the two entrenched stories about Jesus,
re-reading Scripture, questioning some old stubborn misreadings. At stake is
the rescue of the faith from hardened arteries and terminal boredom.

His
latest book, Simply Jesus, takes up the theme: God’s new creation is
breaking in, and Jesus embodies what God wants done. God installed Jesus to act
on his behalf. Jesus forgave; he healed; he said love one another. “Seek first
the kingdom of God,” Jesus said.

Wright defines heaven

In
this bleeding world, all that might sound like pious nonsense. But in Wright’s
eyes, the evidence grows that God is in charge despite it all. Good is
infiltrating. “Jesus has all kinds of projects up his sleeve,” Wright says.

The
unpredicted emergence of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission
wouldn’t have happened without faith in God, he argues. Neither would the
Jubilee movement to reduce the debt of poor nations if churches hadn’t acted. A
million neighborhood ministries that aid at-risk youngsters or older adults
wouldn’t get done if believers didn’t care and God’s rule didn’t have a
foothold.

From
his Bible reading, Wright concludes God intends to be the world’s sovereign today,
not a distant future hope. This is uncomfortable news to those who thought they
could despairingly give up on human society and place their bets on the Second
Coming. Think again, Wright says. Heaven isn’t what we assumed.

“People
who still think that ‘heaven’ is a long way away, up in the sky, and that
that’s where Jesus has gone, imagine that the second coming will be an event
somewhat like the return of a space shuttle from its far-off orbit. Not so.
Heaven is God’s space, God’s dimension of present reality.” Jesus’ return means
heaven and earth will one day come together and be present and transparent to
each other, Wright declares.

Earth
and heaven have overlapped already at least once: in the life of Jesus. The
task is to expand that overlapping terrain.

Wright
imagines the real world when Jesus is running it: “The poor in spirit will be
making the kingdom of heaven happen. The meek will be taking over the earth, so
gently that the powerful won’t notice until it’s too late. The peacemakers will
be putting the arms manufacturers out of business. Those who are hungry and
thirsty for God’s justice will be analyzing government policy and legal rulings
and speaking up on behalf of those at the bottom of the pile.”

This
kingdom campaign beckons hearts and minds to venture out of their silos. Will
skeptics be moved to see religion as a force for humane political reform and
not a force of nay-saying and violence? Can rapture-ready believers behold this
world as an arena for change and not a hopeless orb of iniquity to be blown to
bits by divine wrath ASAP?

Such
a cascade of miracles starts first with imagination. The Bible is still
stirring dreams and rumors of a new heaven and even a new earth.

Columnist Ray Waddle, a former
Tennessean religion editor, now lives in Connecticut.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Another in my series of Mark Heard gems. This from
his 1991 album, Second Hand.He was truly one of the best I’ve
ever been around.You can hear the
song on the Youtube link below.

Sun rises and we talk about the weather
Sun bleaches and we ponder it all
The fine line between the banker and the debtor
And what happens if the satellites fall
Too shy we are to come right out and say it
Too sly to let the other one know
Head full of this kaleidoscope of brain-freight
Heart full of something simple and slow

Love is not the only thing
It's the best thing
Love is never everything
But it's the best thing

Too tired to read another twenty pages
Too bored to see the anchorman's face
Too young to bear the burdens of the ages
Too old to keep an innocent pace
You see me like a prism sees a candle
I'm scattered into differing hues
Reality is happening at random
You're warming up the yellows and blues

Love is not the only thing
It's the best thing
Love is never everything
But it's the best thing

Let's go up on the roof beneath the neon
Pretend we're foreigners and drink the city in
Somewhere between the stairwell and the starlight
I find myself holding your hand
Half-cousins to the angels and the demons
Half-brother to the fatherless sons
I lay awake and wonder at the reasons
One kiss and I am lost in your charms

Love is not the only thing
It's the best thing
Love is never everything
But it's the best thing

Sunday, June 3, 2012

My book,
Embracing the Gray: A Wing a
Prayer, and A Doubter’s Resolve, has
elicited a slew of letters and e-mails.Here are excerpts of some that have come in…

The thing I appreciate most about you, Mark, is you're real
and don't make apologies for calling things like they are, and thus this is a
great read.
C.J.

I
thoroughly enjoyed Embracing the Gray.
Your life has certainly been an adventure and an inspiration. Thanks for
sharing with the world. My son and daughter want to read it, too. Hey, I might
even share it with my book club!
L.G.

You
(your book, your words) make me laugh and cry. Chapter 21 “Checkers” made me
cry (touched my heart in many ways). Chapter 23 “Sleeping with Marc Wozniak”
made me laugh (out loud, in the coffee shop…a little embarrassing). And
Chapter 22 “Cold Cuts and Knifing Winds” as well as many other chapters tells
me your name is Compassion (interesting that you work for an organization using
your name).I’ve got one more
chapter left to read, but I don't want to read it, 'cause then it will be over
and, well...I’ve enjoyed it so much, I don't want it to end. I hope you are
working on a sequel.F.T.

Man, I feel I know you so much better since starting your book. You have
my deep admiration for managing to maintain an active faith in a good God after
everything you've been through.
D.D.

I recently purchased your book on Amazon and enjoyed it
greatly. I lazily don't finish 2/3 of the books I start reading, but I couldn't
put yours down. Thank you for sharing honestly and from your heart.
J.W.

At
this moment, while everyone else at church is studying, socializing and being
in community, I'm sitting in an empty Sunday School room by myself because I'm
not sure where or if I fit in. I'm reading your book and sobbing. Thank you for
being in my life, for sharing your experiences and for making me feel I'm not
alone. I picked it up yesterday (after finishing The Dead Sea Scrolls
Deception) to read it and give you some encouragement. Now I know I was meant
to read it for me. Thank you...
S.L.

Mark...again a great book! I really found many touch points of
a shared journey with you. Cried a few times, laughed a few more times and
laugh ‘til I cried from time to time. Good read.
L.G.

I appreciate your honesty...transparency...faith journey...you
have so many great stories and I'm sure there are so many more! Can't wait to
get back to the book!
L.L.

It
was a pleasure reading your book! (I ordered it off Amazon myself the week it
came out). Thanks for sharing your story through this book, it was a very
honest interpretation of your journey of life and I'm actually going to send
copies to a few people I know who I think would really identify with you and
the issues you addressed.
T.A.

Your
book is over-the -moon fantastic!! Just love the depth and scope of your life,
Mark.J.H.

I ate by myself at Vandalia's in DC tonight and spent the
entire time (except when munching) reading your book. All the while, these guys
at a table next to me were discussing the lack of need for God / religion
because people inherently know the "Good" -- the whole thing was
pretty surreal. I'm really enjoying the authenticity that shines through!
K.H.

You're
like Forest Gump in the sense that you have been present with such interesting
people in such interesting situations.
L.L.

I
DID finish it. Actually bought an extra copy or two and gave them to friends as
well. Awesome read, man! I was reading it on an airplane - alternately laughing
then crying. I'm sure the lady next to me thought I was a nut-job. I truly
enjoyed it. Plan on re-reading it again later in the year.
T.C.

I've enjoyed many of the stories you've told in your book. I
do hope it touches many lives, and I appreciate the level of soul-baring that
you offer in its pages.

D.L .

Embracing
the Gray gives me peace to be human, to be real and transparent with
my Maker. Thank you for your raw, and sometimes, bloody verbiage - it is
important to us all!
D.R.

I benefitted
from it. It's a great book! You have an engaging and elegant
writing style. I hope my young adult I just finished your book, Embracing The Gray, today and I wanted
to tell you how much son will read the first half of the book (which I call
your testimony) because you give such an honest accounting of God working in
your life and he likes music so I think your music friendships might intrigue
him. You have a wonderful gift for writing and I was truly privileged to
read your book. Thanks!
T.D.

It was both entertaining and encouraging. The concept of not
being human enough really resonated with me. I know that I've been guilty of
pretending to be a super Christian instead of just being a real human. The deep
thinker in me loved the “Eternal Now” chapter as well. Thanks again for
sharing!
B.H.

Just finished your beautiful book. Thank you for writing it!
Thanks for writing about your struggles and doubts, your questions and
complaints. Thanks for sharing what most believers would only whisper to
themselves. It's a beautiful book and I truly enjoyed it. I look forward to
getting home and writing a review for Amazon.. Thanks again for a thought
provoking and soul-searching book. Great job!!

K.L.

I continue to be humbled by the
response the book is generating.If you have read it and wish to correspond with me, I always interact
with any communiqués.You
can also read many reader reviews (97% are Five Stars) at:

About Me

Described as a renaissance man, Mark A. Hollingsworth considers himself a citizen of the world. He has traveled to forty-nine countries as a manager of rock bands and an advocate for the poor in the developing world. He has been published in two dozen magazines ranging from Billboard to National Lampoon, and his blog has had over 50,000 readers in the past four years. Mark resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Mark's Favorite Blogs:
http://notjusttalk.tumblr.com/